TORONTO—The final curtain fell upon the Shen Yun Performing Arts presentation of classical Chinese music and dance at Toronto's Canon Theatre bringing to an end another successful tour.
Based in New York, the company has been wowing audiences since opening on Friday night, October 9, through to Sunday's matinee, Oct. 11.
Among the Sunday crowd were Chinese-born Mr. Zhang and Ms. Zheng who were there with their family members, six in all.
Ms. Zheng said at half-time, Shen Yun world-class was “wonderful, truly wonderful."
She had often watched shows when in China, but had never seen anything the likes of Shen Yun.
Mr. Zhang, in his 30s, said that he too had watched many shows when in China and also commented that Shen Yun's professionalism and brilliance was something he had never seen before.
"The Shen Yun show brought people visual enjoyment, no matter if it’s their dance, or drumbeats ... it’s very artistic.”
From the elegance of the female dancers to the masculinity of the men, each artist conveyed a joyfulness in every gesture and look they made.
Each time the curtain rose, a new kaleidoscope of color lit up the stage, revealing a spiritual side of China that once governed lives before 1949, when the communist regime quashed these spiritual practices.
Shen Yun has a mission to restore these old values portrayed in ancient heroic legends, to modern tales of courage, and traditional folklore dance.
Exquisitely costumed artists move in synchronized patterns, choreographed to orchestral Western and Chinese composition and 3-D digital backdrops, to match a dance, song, or instrumentalist, at hand.
His heart aflutter, Mr. Zhang enjoyed every moment; "very good, very good," he kept repeating.
The animated backdrops of panoramic landscapes, celestial palaces, billowing clouds, was "wonderful and magnificent."
Planning to visit next year’s Shen Yun
Ms. Huang continued to wipe her tears as she exited the lobby of Canon Theatre after watching Shen Yun for the first time on the evening of Oct. 10. Ms. Huang, 26, was one of the many Chinese immigrants in attendance that night.
“[Though] I lived in China for a long time, Shen Yun was more exciting than any performance I have seen before,” said Huang, who immigrated to Canada five years ago.
Huang said that she very honored to see such pure Chinese culture being displayed outside of China. “If mainlanders could see [Shen Yun], it will definitely have a very good impact on them as it did on me,” said Huang.
Ms. Guo, another immigrant from mainland, praised the Shen Yun performers as beautiful and very capable, with every quality and expression up to par. The dances [i]Chopstick Zest[/i] and [i]Drummers of the Tang Court[/i] gave her the deepest impressions. Guo said that sound produced by the progressive addition of drummers was very encouraging.
Ms. Guo was first introduced to Shen Yun by a friend’s mother who watched a DVD of a performance in China. After hearing how beautiful Shen Yun and the backdrop were, she wanted to see it in person. Guo said she had never before seen the incorporation of a 3-D digital backdrop on stage and found it very novel.
“If [Shen Yun] is performing again next year, we will come again to enjoy it because we heard that the programs will all be different,” said Guo.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Shen Yun Performing Arts. For more information, visit ShenYunPerformingArts.org
